I'm looking for a source for refurbished / secondhand NetApp cluster mode FAS filers. It seems that 7-mode is disappearing, and people are looking for cluster mode more and more. Anyone have a go-to vendor for such things, or know of anyone getting rid of one? The newer the better, preferably ONTAP 8.X or 9.X.

Cost and availability mostly. New stuff is, historically, incredibly expensive compared to going one or two generations back. I'd love to partner up with NetApp and sell new solutions, but that currently is not in the cards for us :(

If you're going for Netapp then surely you'd want some level of support and access to the latest patches and upgrades?

If it's too expensive then maybe NetApp or even shared storage isn't a viable solution?

Do we want it? Definitely. Can we afford it? Not so much. This is the struggle in third-party world XD

You don't need Netapp, you need what you can do with Netapp. They don't do anything you can't do other ways. If you can't upgrade the software (or reinstall it) legally, you don't want to be using it. You can make a NAS with anything.

If you're going for Netapp then surely you'd want some level of support and access to the latest patches and upgrades?

If it's too expensive then maybe NetApp or even shared storage isn't a viable solution?

Do we want it? Definitely. Can we afford it? Not so much. This is the struggle in third-party world XD

Why? What feature sets do you need that NetApp offer?

Every feature is a license and every license has to now be generated by NetApp. Want to use snapshots? License. Want to manage via HTML? License. Want to use NFS, iSCSI, etc? License! What CAN you do with an unlicensed filer?

If you're going for Netapp then surely you'd want some level of support and access to the latest patches and upgrades?

If it's too expensive then maybe NetApp or even shared storage isn't a viable solution?

Do we want it? Definitely. Can we afford it? Not so much. This is the struggle in third-party world XD

Why? What feature sets do you need that NetApp offer?

Every feature is a license and every license has to now be generated by NetApp. Want to use snapshots? License. Want to manage via HTML? License. Want to use NFS, iSCSI, etc? License! What CAN you do with an unlicensed filer?

Nothing. That's what we're trying to tell you. If you can't afford to have a valid license, don't use it. Use a free alternative. It's less work and better than an unlicensed setup from a proprietary vendor.

If you're going for Netapp then surely you'd want some level of support and access to the latest patches and upgrades?

If it's too expensive then maybe NetApp or even shared storage isn't a viable solution?

Do we want it? Definitely. Can we afford it? Not so much. This is the struggle in third-party world XD

Why? What feature sets do you need that NetApp offer?

Every feature is a license and every license has to now be generated by NetApp. Want to use snapshots? License. Want to manage via HTML? License. Want to use NFS, iSCSI, etc? License! What CAN you do with an unlicensed filer?

Nothing. That's what we're trying to tell you. If you can't afford to have a valid license, don't use it. Use a free alternative. It's less work and better than an unlicensed setup from a proprietary vendor.

Good point - you always pay. Either with money or with your own time - what comes cheaper.